The Ever Lovely Brenda Bittner
by Gitana del Sol
Summary: Ziva's POV of that morning in the bullpen when a misunderstanding leads to our characters thinking Tony is in a 'commited relationship'. takes place during 7x21, "Obsession". one-shot


**I was watching _"Obsession" _the other day and this is how it opened. I loved Ziva's facial expressions :) anyways, so here is another one-shot similar to "It Was a Reflex": it is just the written version, Ziva POV, of that morning in the bullpen. takes place (obviously) during episode 7x21, "_Obsession_". enjoy, and please review whether you liked it or disliked it**

**I do not own NCIS or any of these characters.**

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Ziva walked into the bullpen; McGee was already on the computer, but their senior field agent was no where to be found. Typical.

"Ziva!" She turned at McGee's call from his place behind the computer. "You remember Brenda Bittner?"

Ziva frowned, both at the dimly familiar name and at the gleeful smirk which lit up McGee's face.

"Oh, well the name sounds familiar." She offered, not certain where he was headed.

"You friended her. She's a barista at Gibbs' coffee shop." McGee insisted.

Ziva mentally raked her memories for a "Brenda Bittner". And then she remembered: average-sized, brunette woman, about a year or two older than herself, with dark brown eyes that crinkled when she laughed.

"Oh yea, Brenda!" She nodded, but, still clueless as to what this meant, she turned to place her gun and badge into the drawer of her desk.

"I'm reading her page now. She just posted that she's in a 'committed relationship' with Tony DiNozzo."

Ziva felt her body stiffen and the whole of her attention snapped back to McGee at his words. _That_ most certainly got her to focus on what the man was saying. Whatever McGee was planning with this, she was sure she would not find it half as amusing.

"_Our_ Tony DiNozzo?"

"Sure looks like him." He told her with a grin. "Look at her home page!"

Ziva's fingers flickered over the keyboard as she brought up Brenda Bittner's page, as McGee was so gleefully encouraging her to do. But she was far from sharing in his delight. Oh, it was wonderful fun to tease Tony. But not with this. Something dark was bubbling in her stomach, causing her skin to prickle. Tony's idea of a relationship was a 24-hour one; she did not particularly like them, but she learned to tolerate his flings and one-nighters once she realized that they meant just about as much to him as the copper penny meant to a rich man. But a committed relationship? Her stomach knotted as memories of Jeanne drifted into her mind, and she was glad when Brenda's page finally showed up.

Sure enough, there was Tony, his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a tall brunette woman, drawing her in close to his body as she raised a camera to snap the picture.

"Well how long has this been going on?" She asked, trying not to sound too unnerved or demanding.

"How long has what been going on?"

Tony's voice, sounding from just to her right, had her whipping her head around to fix him with a penetrating gaze. In he strolled, looking for all the world as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He wore a satisfied smile, and in an instant Ziva knew he had had sex. But that was not the issue; she, too, had gone out at night for the same satisfaction. The issue was this 'committed relationship'.

"When were you going to tell us?" Ziva did not even attempt to keep the accusing tone out of her voice as she leaned back in her chair, though still tense and alert. She drew a pen from the desk, holding it lightly between her fingers.

"Tell you what?"

"That you were in a _committed_ relationship." Ziva twirled the pen around in her fingers – anything to keep her hands busy and her mind occupied. She narrowed her eyes when Tony laughed good-naturedly.

"With who?" He asked of her, still grinning at her. His green eyes were bright, but she did not let it affect her. Just like Tony to approach this subject so lightly, so jokingly. Typical.

"With the ever-lovely Brenda Bittner." McGee replied, pronouncing all the syllable of the woman's name so that she sounded clearly through the bullpen. He wanted to make Tony squirm, but all it was accomplishing was to send Ziva's skin crawling.

Tony rolled his eyes at McGee and turned to Ziva for relief. But she had none. She twirling the pen, watching his reactions with the intensity of the former assassin that she was. She rotated the pen, keeping herself in check, struggling to maintain her emotions in control. She could not bring herself to speak again, and so she just held his gaze.

Oh, the satisfaction when his face fell into a solemn frown!

"Where did you hear that?"

"She posted it," answered McGee. "Around 7:14 this morning."

Tony glanced down at his wristwatch, and Ziva was pleased to note the anxious manner in which he moved.

"I left her place around 7." Tony seemed to be talking to himself, but his voice carried over to the rest of his team. So, he did have sex with the girl. But the look of unease was enough reassurance for Ziva. She lifted her head to boldly ask what would break her or make her day.

"How long have you two been dating?" She held her breath as she waited, slightly apprehensive, for the answer. But she had nothing to fear, for the answer came quickly.

"We're not dating." Tony scoffed. "Last night was it!"

With that answer, Ziva felt relief and pleasure swell up in her stomach with that statement. Brenda Bittner was no more than a one-nighter; just another girl that Tony captured, used, and threw away. It was terrible, Ziva knew, because obviously Brenda would be upset and hurt when she found out, but she could not help the feeling. All was over; Ziva had gotten all the confirmation she needed, and she was happy to resume a countenance and comfortable position in her chair.

"Well it must have been one hell of an end because she cannot wait to tell all of her friends." McGee informed Tony smugly, drawing out the word "all", to the desired effect that Tony turned to his computer with frantic nervousness. Ziva smirked, now at perfect liberty to tease Tony and derive amusement from it as well as McGee.

"How many friends could she possibly have?" Tony's gaze flickered nervously from between Ziva and McGee, and his tone was unnerved. Happy to now search the page and allow herself to see the picture of Tony and poor Brenda (for now that there was no reason to fret, she did pity the girl), Ziva jumped to hand him the answer.

"Two thousand, four hundred, and twelve." Ziva paused, double-checking the figure. But she had read it correctly; it was, indeed, very high. "She is very popular." Ziva did not think she was even on affable terms with that many people, never mind friendship. Either this woman was ridiculously amiable, or Ziva was desperately lacking in this department; and she had a feeling it was the latter.

But she had very little time to dwell on this particularly disheartening idea, for Tony was once again expressing his concern – this time with rising panic.

"Can she post this without my permission?" He demanded of McGee.

"Depends on your privacy settings, Tony." He told Tony smugly.

"Well obviously I haven't got them _set_ right. Will you come over here, McGeek, and….make this go away!"

Ziva placed her chin on her hands, smirking as she watched the scene before her. All was as it should be now; there were no unwanted emotions boiling within her, nothing that was threatening to tear her control to shreds. She chuckled.

"Tony, you know, you're getting way to old for these one-night stands. Your biological clock is ticking."

"Men don't have biological clocks." He did not even glance up from his computer screen, so preoccupied was he with the offense that it held. Ziva chuckled again happily, satisfied, and turned away.

"When I meet Ms. Right," he added, and Ziva glanced up at him warily. "I'll be ready to…settle down."

"Don't ever settle, DiNozzo." Gibbs walked into the bullpen purposefully. "Dead lieutenant." He informed them, and continued to fill the team in as he grabbed his gear.

But Ziva was not listening, her head too occupied with a whole new list of worries and questions and emotions that were somersaulting through her head, the result of Tony's final comment. She groaned as she grabbed her pack and took up the rear; just as she eliminated one fear, a new one appeared.

Well, she thought grimly, at least she could still be friends with Brenda Bittner.


End file.
